Thea backed up and ran into Eric. He put a steadying arm around her.
"Is she all right?"
"She's fine. I have to get out of here."
Eric looked into her face. He was rumpled: his hair mussed, his eyes dark. All he said was, "Let's go."
They passed Vivienne and Selene on the way out. Thea had to give them credit; they both looked shocked and unhappy. The question was, would it last?
Dani was in the parking lot with John Finkelstein. "I'm going home," she said significantly to Thea, and tossed something into a clump of bitterbrush.
It was an empty vial.
Thea felt a tiny uncoiling of relief. She touched Dani's arm lightly. "Thanks."
Dani looked back at the cafeteria. "I wonder what it was he wanted to know?" she murmured.
And just then a howl came from the lighted doorway, as if answering her question. It didn't sound like a person; it sounded like an animal in anguish.
"Whyyyyyy?"
Thea turned blindly and almost ran for Eric's jeep.
When they were driving on darkened streets, Eric said quietly, "I'm presuming he was an old boyfriend?"
"Last month's."
Eric glanced at her. "He was pretty messed up, poor guy."
And that, Thea thought, summed it up nicely. He was pretty messed up forever. Poor guy.
"It's Blaise," she said. She hadn't meant to talk to him about this, but the words were so crowded in her throat that she thought she'd burst if she didn't let them out. "She does this and does this, and I can't stop her. She picks guys up everywhere, and they fall in love with her, and then she dumps them."
"Love? Hm," Eric said.
Thea looked at him, astonished. He was looking straight ahead, his long, supple fingers steady on the wheel.
Well. And I thought you were so naive. Maybe you see more than I realized.
"It's a kind of love," she said. "It's like-do you know, in ancient Greece they worshiped the goddess Aphrodite. She was the goddess of love-and the thing about her was that she was absolutely merciless." Thea shook her head. "I saw this play once about a queen named Phaedra. And Aphrodite made her fall in love with her own stepson, and by the end of the play just about everybody was dead on the stage. But Aphrodite just kept smiling. Because she was just doing what a goddess does-the same way that a tornado rips houses apart or a fire burns down a forest."
She stopped. Her chest was aching and she didn't have any breath left. But in a way she felt better, as if some pressure had been relieved.
"And you think Blaise is like that."
"Yes. Sort of a natural force that can't help itself. Does that sound completely crazy?"
"Actually, no." Eric gave a wry smile. "Nature's rough. Hawks grab rabbits. Male lions kill cubs. It's a jungle out there."
"But that doesn't make it right. Maybe for goddesses and animals, but not when it gets to the level of humans." It was a moment before she realized what she'd said. She was using "humans" to mean "people."
"Well, humans aren't very far from animals, after all," Eric said softly.
Thea sagged back against the seat. She was still confused and unhappy, but what scared her most was that she felt a strong urge to keep talking to Eric about it. He seemed to understand so well... better than anybody else ever had. And not only to understand, but to care.
"I know what you need," Eric said suddenly, brightening. "I was going to suggest we go to the late buffet at Harrah's, but I know something better."
Thea glanced at the clock, saw that it was almost eleven: "What?"
"Puppy therapy."
"What?"
He just grinned and turned the jeep south. They pulled up at a modest gray building with a sign that read sun city animal hospital.
"This is where you work."
"Yup. We can let Pilar off early," Eric said, getting out and unlocking the front door of the building. "Come on."
A pretty girl with shoulder-length brown hair looked up from behind the office counter. Thea recognized her as Pilar Osorio from school. A quiet girl who looked like a good student.
"How was the dance?" she said. Thea thought her eyes lingered on Eric wistfully as she said it.
Eric shrugged. "Pretty awful, to tell the truth. There was a fight and we left." Thea noticed he didn't mention his part in stopping the fight.
"How awful," Pilar said sympathetically-but Thea thought she wasn't entirely sorry that the dance hadn't gone well.
"Yeah. So how's our boy?"
"Okay-a little hyper. You might want to take him for a walk later." Pilar picked up her jacket. She nodded politely to Thea as she headed for the door. "See you Monday."
She likes him.
When the door was shut, Thea looked around the office. "So the clinic's not open."
"No, but somebody has to stay overnight when we've got animals boarding here." He gave her the grin again. "Follow me."
He led her through an exam room into a corridor and then to a kennel room at the back. Thea looked around with interest. She'd never been in the inner sanctum of an animal hospital before.
There were several dog runs. Eager whining was coming from the last.
Eric looked at her mischievously. "Three, two, one..."
He opened the cage. A big Labrador puppy tumbled out, tail wagging frantically. He was a beautiful color that ranged from deep gold on his back to almost white on his legs and paws.
"Hey, Bud," Eric said. "Hey, pal; who's a good boy?" He looked at Thea solemnly. "This is the ultimate cuddle dog."
Thea collapsed on the sheet vinyl floor and made a lap, holding both arms out.
"Uh-your dress-" Eric began mildly, but the puppy was already in midair. Thea caught him and he crawled up her, legs on her shoulders, hot breath blowing in her ear.
"I think I'm in love," Thea gasped, her arms full of warm, heavy puppy sweetness.
Happiness surrounded her. She didn't have to try to merge with the puppy's mind; he practically took over by force. All his thoughts were good ones, and they were all about now. About how terrific everything smelled this minute, and how great that scratch behind the ear felt on a fleabite.
Good feelings, happy feelings... I really like this big bald dog... Wonder which of us is dominant?